April 7: "Secure Emergency Grain From Abroad To Feed Livestock"

1953: Seven candidates, representing three political parties and independent nominees, will contest the by election for the East Portland seat in the House of Representatives, caused by the death of Harold Allan. The polling date will be April 30. At nomination day in the Town Hall at Port Antonio, the candidates – all but one of the eight previously forecast for the poll – hand in nomination papers with a £50 deposit each to E.J. Ashmeade, returning officer for the constituency.

1960: Local and foreign beers, whisky, gin, brandy, liqueurs and cordials, and imported cigarettes will go up in price. The price increases result from the Government’s increases in excise and import duties announced by Vernon Arnett, minister of finance in the House of Representatives. The increases will make local beer (Red Stripe) one penny more per bottle or can, foreign beer threepence more per bottle or can, whisky, gin and brandy two shillings more per quart and imported cigarettes will cost twopence more per packet of 20.

1964: The first issues of the weekly overseas Gleaner to be printed in London come off the presses and are snapped up immediately. There will be an official launching party at the Institute of Directors in Belgrave Square to publish the new London-based Gleaner. Tom Sherman, business manager of The Gleaner, has been masterminding the new scheme and is pleased with its initial success.

1965: The Government is to be asked by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) to secure emergency grain from abroad to feed livestock stricken by the drought in more or less the same basis, as food for peace has been secured. Decision to approach the Government with this request is taken in the JAS board of management’s monthly meeting. Proposed by Wesley Shirley, the resolution embodying the proposal was passed after a report on the drought in St Elizabeth had been made by H. B. Crawford, St Elizabeth representative on the board.

1969: The marketing of five of the island’s big permanent crops is said by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries John P. Gyles to be no problem in agricultural development and expansion. But insufficient production in all these crops was a very real problem, the minister declares. Gyles made the statement in the course of his address at the St Mary Parish Agricultural Show, held at the Richmond Oval at Richmond in St Mary.

1974: The final decision on a government move to acquire all the shares of the Jamaica Omnibus Service Ltd (JOS) is expected to be given some time during this week, following a special meeting of the Cabinet. Simultaneously, the board of directors of the JOS will be holding a meeting to discuss Government’s proposal to completely control the only Corporate Area bus service. This is reported by the Eric Bell, minister of public utilities, on his return from meetings in the United Kingdom with the JOS major shareholders, British Electric Traction and United Transport Association, and local representatives from JOS.